O ctober I, 2014
% Minority & Small Business Week
Curt Crawford is the owner Curt’s Ultimate Fitness
boxmg,
martia, arts and
a n d F ie h tin e A rte a t N in rth a a c t
* m u
a
photo by
Page 17
M ike B ivins /P ortland O bserver contributor
The
trains me"
” ° ™ » <"
Curt’s Ultimate Fitness and Fightins Arts
Kickboxer turns sport into his business with training center
M ike B ivins
P ortland O bserver
by
CONTRIBUTOR
T h e firs t tim e I h e a rd th e
n am e C u rtis C ra w fo rd w as in
2 0 0 7 . I w as at m y f r ie n d ’s
h o u se a n d w e w ere w a tc h in g
the International F ight League.
T h e IF L is a d e fu n c t m ix e d
m a rtia l arts p ro m o tio n w h ich
h a d a P o rtla n d -b a s e d te am
c a lle d th e W o lfp a c k . T h e y
w e re n o t o n th is n ig h t. T h e
S e a ttle T ig e r S h a rk s w e re on
th is c a rd a n d th e ir h e a v y ­
w e ig h t, a 41 -y e a r-o ld C u rtis
C raw fo rd w as fighting.
M y b u d d y re m a rk e d th a t
C raw fo rd o w n ed a sm all g y m
in the G atew ay area. A n in te r­
e s tin g tid b it, b u t I w as m o re
interested in the fight. T he 5 ’ 11
C raw ford gave his m uch larger
a n d y o u n g e r o p p o n e n t, 3 0 -
y e a r-o ld a n d 6 ’2 A n to in e
J a o u d e all h e c o u ld h a n d le .
N ev er o u t o f the fight, w e w ere
h o ld in g o u r b reath w aitin g fo r
C ra w fo rd to d e liv e r a k n o c k ­
o u t— b u t th e k n o c k o u t n e v e r
c a m e , a n d C u rt w o u ld g o on T anner. T anner w on his title in
to lose the fight by u n anim ous 2005 w hile u n d er C ra w fo rd ’s
decision.
tu te la g e . C ra w fo rd m e t T a n ­
N o r t h e a s t H a l s e y a n d ner w hile training at G resham ’ s
1 1 1th A v e n u e is n o t an a re a T eam Q uest in the early 2000’s
y o u w o u ld u su a lly a s so c ia te w here the tw o becam e friends,
w ith g reatness. T his often for­ an d w h en C ra w fo rd o p e n e d
g o tte n p a rt o f to w n is a p la c e his g y m in 2 0 0 4 , th e frie n d s
y ou w ould nev er think a w orld te am e d up, an d th e rest is h is­
c h a m p io n o n c e tra in e d in. tory.
C u r t’s U ltim a te F itn e ss an d
A lthough T anner m et his un­
F ig h tin g A rts is th e fo rm e r tim e ly d e m ise in 2 0 0 8 , his
h o m e to th e la te , g re a t U lti­ fighting spirit lives on at C urt’s,
m ate F ig h tin g C h a m p io n sh ip an d I sto p p e d in to th e g y m to
M iddlew eightC ham pionE van se e h o w th in g s w ere g o in g .
T w o f ig h te r s , A n th o n y
B a rre ra , 19, a n d Is a a c
S h elto n , 26, w ere sp a rrin g in
the ring. T he heav ily m uscled
C raw ford looked younger and
fitte r th an h is now 48 y e a rs
w o u ld lead yo u to b e lie v e .
A lthough he has slim m ed dow n
from his normal fighting weight
o f 24 0 to 2 2 0 to h elp so m e o f
his sm aller fighters train — he
h a s n ’t lo st a step.
C urt excuses h im self to spar
w ith his fighters, but prom ises
w e w ill c h a t a fte r. H e a sk e d
continued
on page 27